Once Saver Plus participants reach their goal, they use their savings and matched funds to purchase education items such as uniforms, text books, stationery and laptops.

In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, all appointments and workshops were moved online.

Between March and September 2020, the program matched over $520,000 towards laptops and tablets. During this critical period, Saver Plus enabled digital access for over 1,100 families and individuals to support remote schooling and learning.

In April, a policy to support participants, already in a vulnerable low-income group, was introduced. Over 2,000 severely affected participants who no longer had the capacity to save, were given the opportunity to withdraw from Saver Plus. Withdrawal was inclusive of their savings and matched funds to date, plus the chance to re-start the full program in the future.

In a demonstration of resilience, 97% of participants elected to remain on the program, confident in their ability to fulfil program requirements. Attributing their revised budget on top of the skills and knowledge obtained via the financial education workshops in their commitment to continue.

Saver Plus is co-funded by ANZ and the Australian Government with ANZ providing matched savings for participants. Since 2003, Saver Plus has helped over 48,000 participants save more than $25 million, with ANZ matching $20 million for education expenses.